Technical Field
The present invention relates to a writing instrument with a light emitting device that directs generated light towards a writing surface based on proximity of the light emitting device to the writing surface or by orientation of the light emitting device.
Description of the Related Art
The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
There are many writing instruments, for example, retractable ball-point pens, known in the art that have built-in lights, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), thus making the pen usable in a dark environment. Usually, retractable pens with built-in lights work as follows: when a pen's writing end is extended out of the pen, the built-in light turns on, and when the pen's writing end is retracted, the light turns off. However, pens that function in this way have lights that are always on when the pen's writing end is out, regardless of the brightness of the environment. Lights that are continually turned on, even in a bright environment, reduce the light's battery life even though the light is not necessary for writing.
This shortcoming has been addressed with retractable light pens that have separate switches for turning a built-in pen light on and off [Lin, T. US20070041177A1; Weiliang, K. US7093950B2; Liu, L. US8632270B2; Huang, M. US7022973B2; Huang, M. US6926421B2—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety]. However, these references disclose a light pen where the light emitting device is generally located within body of the pen, and the light is not directed towards a writing surface. Instead, the light generated causes these pens to glow and shine in multiple directions, but does not focus the beam of light towards the writing surface, which requires the most lighting.
In view of the forgoing, the objective of the present invention is to provide a writing instrument that has independent actuators for retracting the ink cartridge and activating a light emitting device, while also directing the light generated towards a writing surface based on proximity to the writing surface or by directional lighting from the location and orientation of the light emitting device.